This Week in the Nintendo eShop

Be sinful this week and pick up some running punishment. Wait, that came out wrong. Regardless, we have three dynamite games coming to Wii U. On Virtual Console, both Sin & Punishment games are out. Both are quite excellent. On the new side of things, there's Runbow, a Wii U eShop platformer that features tons of challenge and support for up to nine players. You can literally control your character with just a Nunchuk. It's crazy. If you're a little behind on your eShop games, some sales might help you out. Scram Kitty is a top-shelf Wii U eShop game from last year, and you can also check out some solid Atlus RPGs on discount, including Etrian Odyssey IV.

Wii U Original Download Games

Runbow ($14.99)

Runbow is basically the Super Smash Bros. of the eShop world. This platformer features a wide variety of modes and options, not unlike the famed Nintendo fighting series. It also has a slew of unlockable guest characters, including Shovel Knight, Gunvolt, and CommanderVideo. Most of all, though, Runbow is a whole lot of fun, featuring competitive race-to-the-finish gameplay for up to nine players, as well as a variety of other cooperative and competitive modes. It even has online multiplayer.

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FullBlast ($5.99)

With a totally rockin' butt-rock soundtrack, FullBlast is a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up that features a pretty simple setup: "you're our hero, kill them!" If you choose do that, you'll do that using power ups (and the dreaded power downs) while also rocking out to some heavy metal music. FullBlast also has a two-player mode, achievements, and leaderboards.

Brave Tank Hero ($5.99)

This mission-based tank adventure lets players become their very own brave tank hero. Each mission features different objectives, ranging from destroying enemy bases to saving civilians, which means you need to make sure you have the right tank for the job. It features 50 missions in all and gives off very slight Blast Corps vibes. The Wii U version features multiplayer modes.

Pixel Slime U ($2.99)

This automatically scrolling platformer challenges you to have the lowest score possible. That's it. That's the game.

Wii U Virtual Console Games

Sin & Punishment ($11.99)

This 2000 Nintendo 64 never made it out of Japan despite mostly being in English. Sin & Punishment did, however, make it out on the Wii Virtual Console back in 2007. Now, to end Nintendo's "hard-core" month of Virtual Console, it's coming to Wii U. In case you don't know, Sin & Punishment is made by Treasure (who developed Gunstar Heroes, which came to 3DS last week) and like most of their games, it's an amazing shooter. You control the player character in a way similar to the flying stages in Kid Icarus: Uprising.

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Sin & Punishment: Star Successor ($19.99)

After Sin & Punishment finally made it to America in 2007 and was assumed to be a success, Nintendo brought Treasure back to make a sequel. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor came out on Wii in 2010, bringing back the frenetic action gameplay of the original. If you're excited for Star Fox Zero, consider checking out Star Successor. It's not quite the same thing, but it captures the high score-chasing insanity and also features a pretty bonkers story.

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3DS Original Download Games

Gotcha Racing ($5.99)

From developer Arc System Works, Gotcha Racing is a top-down racing game (think R.C. Pro Am), but the cars are upgradeable using Capsule Machines collected in game. This game has 12 tracks in total spread out across Grand Prix tournaments and different racing grades. If you're the StreetPassing type, you can race against other players and swap parts.

Wii U Retail Games

Disney Infinity 3.0 (Available August 30)

Disney Infinity 3.0 launches this weekend on the eShop. While it doesn't virtually spit out figures, you can get the latest version of Disney's toys-to-life series starting on Sunday morning. Remember: you can use Star Wars characters this time.

Themes

Splatoon: Squid Sisters

Woah Dave! Alien Invasion

Sales

Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails (Wii U) - $4.99 until September 2 (regularly $9.99)